Apparatus for making display film



Oct; 10, 1950 H. FLETCHER, JR

APPARATUS-F012 MAKING DISPLAY FILM 3 Sheets-Sheet=- 1 Filed May 9 1946FIGURE v IIII!!!IIIIIIIIIIII'IIIIIIII .11 i- 1111 f I I I'lllll ll/Ill/l'llllll/l/I) Fill rll FIGURE 4 FIGURE 2VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIll[III/[IIIIII/(Illllllll INVENTOR.

HORACE FLETCHER, JR.

FIGURE 3 NW N M Oct. 10, 1950 H. FLETCHER, JR Y 2,525,121

} APPARATUS FOR MAKING: DISPLAY FILM Filed May 9, 1946 I 3 Sheets-Sheet2 FIGURE 6' INVENTbR. HORACE FLETCHERJR.

Oct. 10, 1950 H. FLETCHER, JR

APPARATUS FOR MAKING DISPLAY FILM 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 9, 1946FIGURE 6 INVENTOR. HORACE FLETCHER, JR.

Patented Oct. 10, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AP PLARAT'Iis FortMAKINGDISPLAY FILM f 1 Horac'el letcher, J r., Lyndhurst Township;

Bergen County,:J.

Application May 9, 1946; s ria No. 668,631

My invention relates to a new article of nianu iacturein the nature of afilm of distinctive appearance or a displa film. Heretofore laminatedpaper has been produced having interposed ,with' in the-laminations,fibrous and similarmaterial serving to strengthen the paper.

By the practice of my invention, it is proposed to produce a Wholly orpartly transparent laini nated film that may be made distinctive inappearance so that it will be identified with a product or source, andit is also proposed to produce such material which will have a pleasingand distinctive appearance. It is not the primary intention of thisinvention that the composite film produced shall have adhesiveproperties; but it may be endowed in that Way. 7

It is a purposeoi this invention to associate display material with alaminated, flexible, transparent sheet. This display material is to bear ranged in accordance with definite preconceived esthetic designs. Thematerial selectedmay be plain or colored thread, plain or colored"ribbon or any continuous strip of material such as-paper or wire. Theproduct to be created will be a lam inated, Wholly or partlytransparent, flexible film having interposed in'the laminations displaymaterial arranged 4 Claims. (01. 154- -1.rs

- By the selection ofdistinctive colored d isplay.

material and the arrangement or that'm'aterial in accordance with acertain pattern, a continue ous film is produced which is adaptedtowr'apping products; the design of thedisplay material in thefilm maybecome identified with a certain manufacturer and'his product. 1

Such packaging film would have Wide applie cation in creating eye-appealin the products to which it is appliedas a covering, and willalso serveto identif 'the maker It will; give theap pearance, if created withclosely laid fibers, of a fabric covering, yet itneed havenointerweav-fing of the displaymaterial, such-'material being" fixed inplace in the laminations bythe adhesive property of the bonding materialapplied to the l, If e V.

Many striking; co'nibinations'may be created through varying the displayimaterial peed, through varying the color of ,the' outer film, throughyaryingPthe color and type of thexinner' film, e. g; the inner mmmay-betran s'parent or translucent-,'-white "or colored. If. the innerfilm is translucent, a background is provided for the displaymaterialsyif the inner film is transparent and uncolo'r'ed',"thearticle"covered supplies the] duced when the translucent, color is' imparted tothe article Wrapped and a colored background is supplied for the displaymaterial. W Not onlyis a new packagingfilm supplied; but the product maybeutiliz'ed in a thousand ways: wallpaper, shower curtains, draperies,bedspreads, portieres, displays, garment storage bags, folders, theaterdrops, slip-covers, raincoats, window shades, etc. 2

I intend the appurtenant drawings" only' to be 7 illustrative of apreierrede'mbodiment of my invention', as many changes maybe made withinthe scope of the hereinafter set forth claims with out departing; fromthe spirit of the invention. Figure, 1 presents a schematic lay-out ofthe apparatus for producing the film.

Figure2 is an example of' the type of film produc ed when the guide barsare staticf t Figure 3 is a cross-section of the film; taken ontheline33 in Figure'2.

Figure 4 is an examp-leof the type'o'f film pro guide bars reciprocaterelative to' each other. h V Figure 5 is a top view of the feedapparatus showing the introduction of display material into thelaminations, the film itself having'been cutaway at the exact point oflamination.

Figure 6 presents a schematicvi'ew of modified feed bars and their,relation to the laminating rollers. g I

' Referring now to the drawings in detail, a roll l2 of transparent film!3 'of cellulose acetate is unrolled and passes over the guide roller;14. There are many typesof film that may be used, The preferred type iscellulose acetate, but'any type, c. g., cellophane, Pliofilm', Paper,or'gla'ssine, Whichhas a relatively high tensileistrength,has

a low absorptive factor, is 'clear,r fiexiblefand' transparent maybeus'edj Thiekriess'of'the may vary from .005" to .010". 5 j

The film l3 progresses to a coating roller {15. This roller l5 dips intoa bath of adhesive mate-Q rial 16 contained ma tank ll where itjis rraintainedat a temperature ofapproximat'ely 20? C; The film l3 acquires acoating of adhesive l6 on one side. A doctor-bar limits the am adhesivecarried by the coating roller t5,

The adhesiveis preferably a plasticizer-m fied synthetic resin althoughman other types of adlr esives: maybe used. Any'fof theIseVeral vinylpolymeraglyceryl phthalates; s'ulpho mid odiforinaldehyde "resins, orphenol-for'inalde' have been found tobe satisfactory; The adhes e isdissolved" in a suitable "coal tar'hydrocarbon, such as toluene, benzeneand the like, or anai:

mint 'Li is to be used with a plasticizer. Since this art is well known,applicant deems it unnecessar to.

state the technique in detail.

It is found satisfactor to operate the apparatus so that the film iscoated at the rate offe'et': per minute, but much greater speeds-maybe.

adopted with due' precautions forth'harmless discharge of accumulatedcharges of static el'ecf-i tricity.

.- The film 13 now passes over the guide rollers I8, '20 and passes intoa chamber-l9 where a constant fiow of heated air at 50 C. assists theevaporation of the solvent as the film l3 progresses over a series ofroller transports 2|, 2 l, 2 I. Air is blown into the chamber [9 by thefan 45 and is heated by the resistance wire 46, or other suitabl means.7

The adhesive coating l6 becomes thoroughly attached to the film l3 andits immediate adhesive properties become greatly reduced as the solventis evaporated. The coating [6 passes from a semi-fluid state to arelativel solid state with greatly reduced tackiness. The tackiness maybe later increased by the application of heat, without the adhesivecoating [6 again being reduced to a semi-fluid state because the solventis almost completel evaporated.

After emerging from the chamber l9 the film l3 passes over another guideroller 22 and then it passes between the opposed rollers 23, 24. Roller23 is preferably metallic and its temperature is maintained atapproximately 130 C., while roller 24 is preferably of rubber.

A roll of backing strip 25 isfed over the guide roller 38 and betweenthe opposed rollers 23, 24'. This backing strip'25 is brought into closecontact with the coating of the adhesive [6 applied to the film l3 andthe film,.l3 and the backing strip 25 are intimately bonded togetherthrough the application of heat and pressure. The pressure applied maybe approximately 250-500 pounds per square inch.

The backing strip 25 may be a film identical in composition with thefilm [3 or it may be-a translucent or colored film or paper.

Display material is introduced; into the laminations through the usev ofa rack 2! positioned adjacent to the opposed rollers 23', 24. This rack21 contains a series of app op a e y arran ed spindles 28, 28, 28, etc.,A' plurality of spools 26 of thread 31 are arranged on the. spindles.The thread passes over the guide bar 29 and then passes through slots 30in the feed bars 3|, 32.

The feed bars 3|, 32 are connected b arms 33, 34

to the bar 35 which is actuated by the reciprocating rod 36. Either orboth bars 3|, 32 may be disconnected from the bar 35 thereby producing afixed point of feed and laying down the thread 31in a straight line. Orone of the feed bars 3| or 32 may be actuated to lay down the. displaymaterial or thread 31 in a pattern depending upon the periodicity ofmovement; meanwhile, the other-bar feeds the thread 31 straight. And, ifboth of the bars 3|, 32 are simultaneously actuated, the displaymaterial will be held down in a pattern varying from a straight line, asindicated in Figure 4.

At the outset, the ends of the thread 31 are attached to an adhesivestrip whereb they and the strip may be simultaneously fed into thelaminations to start the thread 31, moving. Obviously by selection ofvaricolored threads many pleasingand distinctive patterns may becreated. And by varying the'periodicity of the movement of the feed bars3|, 32, an endless variety of patterns may be created.

.. Immediatel after the thread 31 sets into the "lamination's; it"becomes firmly attached to the .adhesiveycoating." Through the variouspositions fromwhich it is fed, multiple designs are produced Byincreasing the distance between the spindles 28,2rollsv of ribbon, paperor tape may be accommodated and fed to the feed bars. The slots 30, 30will have to be widened to accommodate the greater width of the ribbon,paper or tape,

' but the tape, ribbon or paper is fed into the laminations in thesameway.

The laminated product is then led out over the guide roller 40 and woundon the spool 39.

The feed bars 3|, 32 as shown in Figures 1 and 5 are rectangular.However, in view of the desirability to lay down the thread 31 in closeproximity to the point of lamination, Figure 6 indicates modified feedbars 4|, 42 which may be each pentagonal in cross-section. The narrowends 43 ma be closely approached to the point of lamination. Thesepentagonal feed bars ll, 42 will also'be provided with slots 44 throughwhich the thread 31 passes.

It will be seen that I have provided a machine, which, by the practiceof the method referred to, produces an article of manufacture that ma beused for a great variety'of purposes. It is inexpensive, attractive, andsusceptible to manufacture in an almost unlimited number of forms. Itmay simulate a woven fabric in appearance, although there is nointerweaving of the display material. The foregoing description isintended merely to belillustrative of a preferred form of my invention,for many changes may be made within thescope of the hereinafter appendedclaims, without.depa rting from the spirit of the invention. 4 l

I claim:

1.-v A laminating machine comprising means for coating a film, a meansfor drying the coating on the film, opposed rollers engaged with eachother wherebyfilms introduced between the rollers are laminated, adisplay material feed bar disposed in close relationshipto the point ofengagement between therollers, slots in the feed bar angularly disposedand directed toward the point of engagement between the rollers wherebdisplay material may be'introduced through the slots between-films beinglaminated by the rollers.

T 2. .A laminating machinecomprising means for coating a film, a meansfor drying the coating on the film, opposed rollers engaged with eachother whereby films introduced between the rollers are laminated, adisplay material feed bar having a. tapered end disposed, in closerelationship to the point of engagement between the rollers, slots inthe feed bar-angularly disposed and directed toward the point ofengagement between the rollers whereby displaymaterial may be introducedthrough, the slots between films being laminated 8. A laminating machinecomprising means for coating a film, a means for drying the coating onthe film, opposed rollers engaged with each other whereby filmsintroduced between the rollers are laminated, display material feed barshaving a tapered end disposed in close relationship to the point ofengagement between the rollers, slots in the feed bars angularlydisposed and directed toward the point of engagement between the rollerswhereby display material may be introduced through the slots betweenfilms being laminated by the rollers.

4. A laminating machine comprising means for coating a film, a means fordrying the coating on the film, opposed rollers engaged with each otherwhereby films introduced between the rollers are laminated, displaymaterial feed bars having a tapered end disposed in close relationshipto the point of engagement between the rollers, slots in the feed barsangularly disposed and directed toward the point of engagement betweenthe rollers whereby displa material may be introduced through the slotsbetween films being laminated by the rollers and a means for reciprocating the feed bars.

HORACE FLETCHER, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 197,502 Turner et a1 Nov. 27,1877 1,266,766 Brandenberger May 21, 1918 1,590,167 Howard June 22, 19261,797,998 Sadtler Mar. 24, 1931 1,905,392 Freydberg Apr. 25, 19332,040,608 Hinrichs May 12, 1936 2,071,926 Geerlings Feb. 23, 19372,101,876 Scott Dec. 14, 1937 2,166,819 Miller July 18, 1939 2,171,259Scott Aug. 29, 1939 2,248,617 Feeley et a1. July 8, 194:1 2,273,677Wallach Feb. 17, 1942 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,525,121October 10, 1950 HORACE FLETCHER, JR.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 2, line 40, for .005 read .000

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, sothat the same may conform to the record of the case in the PatentOffice.

Signed and sealed this 26th day of December, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents.

